Cliffside Park man charged with sexually assaulting two girls

CLIFFSIDE PARK — A borough man has been charged with aggravated sexual assault for allegedly breaking into a neighbor’s house in February and sexually assaulting two sisters, both of whom were under age 13, authorities said Friday.

Serkan Seyrek, 20, was taken into custody Thursday after police called him in to interview him about statements he made after he was arrested for allegedly stealing a bottle of cognac from an Elks Lodge on Aug. 31, said Chief Donald Keane of the Cliffside Park police.

Seyrek allegedly broke into a house on Washington Avenue, a little less than two blocks from where he lived, at 6 a.m. on Feb. 22 and sexually assaulted the girls in their bedroom before their mother chased him out the front door and into the street. Police said he jumped a fence to elude the mother and a motorist who followed in his car after hearing the woman’s screams.

Keane credited Det. Sgt. Sean MacKay with conducting the interview that led to Seyrek’s arrest on the sexual assault charges. However, Keane declined to say what Seyrek said that led to his arrest on those charges, or how he broke into the girls’ house.

Seyrek was charged with two counts each of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault during the commission of another crime, and one count of burglary for the alleged home invasion. He had been charged with burglary and theft for allegedly breaking into the Elks Lodge around 4 a.m. on Aug. 31 and stealing a bottle of cognac.

He is being held at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack in lieu of $1 million bail, with no 10 percent cash-payment option. He is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Hackensack at 9 a.m. Monday.

Keane said it does not appear Seyrek knew the family at the Washington Avenue home.

Keane credited residents, the detective bureau and investigators from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office and the prosecutor’s office for the arrest.

“This arrest will make the residents of Cliffside Park rest a little easier,” said Mayor Gerald A. Calabrese.